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Trial by Fire (2023)
Makes you feel the languish, pain and suffocation
Netflix
At one point of time in the last episode, it felt like my living room is filling up with smoke and I could smell the acrid fumes of the burning theater. The series waits until the very last episode to actually depict the tragic event and completely focuses on languish of the grieving parents, and their toil through the court case with a foregone conclusion through its first six episodes.
The parents grinded away for 25 years fighting the losing battle through the gut-wrenchingly prolonged delay when the rich and the powerful were afforded privileges of tampering with evidence, skipping court dates and pushing dates further and further away at their will. The listless melancholy that envelopes the series and the languid pace that is maintained is tactfully designed for the viewer to actually experience some of the drudgery in the comfort of their living room. It is not a court room drama; it is not a series that ends on high note or preach any social message. It takes you on a time-travel ride to 1997 and lets you be a bystander outside Uphaar cinema as the fire rages on and people perish. And while your outside escapes the fire, your inside smolders to black charcoal. It numbs you to hopelessness and you feel indifferent to the sheer absurdity of locking people in the balcony seats of a theater and the gross unaccountability of the several failures that culminates to the entire tragedy.
In one scene, when some of the hapless victims are trying to push the theater door trying to escape fire and others are pushing back because there is no room on the other side, the series will actually suffocate you. Every thump on the door will be felt inside your gut...
I wish to comment on so many other things, from acting, direction, cinematography, story, dialog etc. But my feelings about the series can be summed up in just one sentence: "Maybe some things last forever after all" (Luke Combs). It's a product of so much love, care, heart and courage by the whole team, especially by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, the parents of the two children who are credited with the story, that the series will live inside every viewer for their lifetime.
Zakir Khan: Tathastu (2022)
Warm as a winter coat
The thing about Zakir Khan is he is a wordsmith first and a comic second. The choice of words, the delivery, the life lessons are so masterful that many parts of his set is quotable. He is India's George Carlin.
There are very few stand-up comics who you genuinely love. The way Indian audience love Arijit Singh and how an Indian city would come to standstill when Arijit performs, traffics rerouted, areas cordoned off, entire football ground converted to parkings, Zakir Khan is in that league of comics, Indian audience genuinely loves him.
Talking about the set, this set is extremely experiential. You need to sit down and watch the set, laugh, chuckle, smirk, hide a few laughs and dry your eyes from time to time. This set can be but need not be summarized in a few lines. Just like most of Carlin's sets.
All I want to say about the set is, you can wear this set as a winter coat when things feel cold around you, and it will keep you warm. And if you need a non-Carlin reference to gauge how good it is, think of Panchayat Season 1 or Kota Factory Season 1.
Zakir, if you are reading this, you kept the magic intact through out. Spellbound!
Neal Brennan: Blocks (2022)
Traumedy meant to be profound, but just painful
Neal has apparently toured across the country with this set in 2021 when it was named as "Unacceptable". Unacceptable is actually a pretty good description of the entire set. Once the credits started rolling, I wondered how the paying audience might have felt while driving home, an hour long standup which was meant to be profound, turning out to be a joyless and painful exercise, a true traumedy (sic). At this point, I really want to comment on how I had thought 3 Mics was a great routine and I had 10 starred it at IMDB and left a gushing review, but as Neal said, I would not.
So Neal found a niche for his work: depression and mental health. And while he was scratching surface in his previous special, he goes knee deep with it in this one. If you drink every time he says, "there is something wrong with me" or the sorts, you'd not just be sloshed by the end of the show, you are risking death from alcohol poisoning. That repetition itself is harrowing. And there is no relief in the entire set. It is one depressive thought after another without much joy, mirth or plain laughter. The show is so not fun that it is puzzling that Ted Sarandos, a great man who serves as Netflix's Chief Content Officer, gave it a go ahead. The only time I laughed during the show is when his name was mentioned in a bit.
Neal, if you happen to read this, just like you get anxiety flare-ups near people drinking alcohol, many others suffering from some of the same afflictions as yours (e.g., I do) do not feel great about an hour long standup held together by the motif of depression which never veers away from it. Some of them may like the issue to be talked about more openly, even addressed in a standup, and all the reassurance, compassion, warmth and comfort that comes with three lines of hope you created after the lights are dimmed, but not straight one hour of it. You basically alienated many from that group by being so self-deprecating and so narrowly single-minded, I would never buy a ticket for you show. And I'd read reviews and decide carefully before I watch if there is a next Netflix special. You genuinely triggered in me deep blues with your set.
Hasan Minhaj: The King's Jester (2022)
Hasan Minhaj pursues high drama in an epic comedy set
First of all, few comedy sets legitimately give you goosebumps and makes you teary. Hannah Gadsby created the mood in Nanette but it had all soul and little laughs. Hasan succeeds on both, it's a set with a lot of heart, and a lot of laughs.
But more importantly, Hasan changes the game of stand up in a significant way with this set. When this set will be closely examined by art historians in the future, they should be able to delineate the new era Hasan heralds with the show. This is my version of it. Without going into any spoiler, the show broadly consists of two stories, Hasan growing up in a Indian Muslim community and Hasan antagonizing world's most powerfuls through his Netflix show "The Patriot Act" and earning fame in the process. The show starts with a narrative on his marriage, having his first child and it is a recurring thread that gives the two main stories some context.
In the first half, Hasan fully embraces his racial-religious identity and talks about his personal experience. In the second half, Hasan dons the hat of the presenter as in his Netflix show and go behind the scenes.
Hasan, never a very keen observational comic, goes high on drama through the set. His body language is exaggerated, expressions loud, movements are theatrical. His props appear at the right times behind him in a large screen. Hasan even name calls Aziz and Kumail in his set.
However, the real reason the set reaches the unbelievable crescendo, the epic high, is how the set incorporates all the tropes and tricks of a summer blockbuster. It has named and identified villains, it has the villains menacing with others and attacking his family, it has a story where the underdog Minhaj smokes them in his own way. It has the revenge drama, the satisfaction of a earned victory, the adulations of the crowd, the jubilations and the actual cheer of the audience. This is a new style of stand up. Stand-up traditionally stayed true to everyday experience of a common man, but Hasan with his theatrics, gives his story a dramatic high and makes it a terrific production.
I do not know whether some of the future comedians will venture into this dramatics, but this set is thoroughly enjoyable. Jokes are few and far between but the atmosphere is electric and you enjoy delivery of every single line which are precise and punchy. It is like you bought a ticket for a pop concert and you get the production value of a super bowl halftime show. Nice work, Hasan! Great job.
Sheng Wang: Sweet and Juicy (2022)
Why are not more people talking about it?
3 user reviews for a stand up that actually makes you chuckle throughout. Thanks, Ali, for bringing out a talent that stayed in the shadows for far too long. He is right amount of quirky, right amount of laid back, right amount of mundane and unbelievable amount of funny. The set is so tightly written, one bit after the other keeps on coming and almost all of them lands. Unlike other comedians of Asian origins, Sheng does not appeal to his racial identity or point of view in the construct of his jokes, he keeps the jokes perfectly general. Also, he is sometimes observational, sometimes imaginative and always lyrical. Good job Netflix. Again, nice work, Ali.
My virtual standing ovation to Sheng. You are in my personal list of favorite comedians now.
Moonfall (2022)
This could have been little more fun if not more intelligent
A completely inane film that is not fun. And this could have been little more fun if not more ntelligent. Whatever budget went to make this film, could have been used to indie Sci-fi film with less action and better story. Such a wasted cast comprised of Halle Berry, no less. It is quite surprising that it rated so highly on IMDB. At least if it was 30 minutes shorter, it would have been slightly more tolerable. You can literally watch any other sci-fi film and expect it to be better than this joyless film.
Sometimes reality is more interesting than fiction.
I am running out of more things to say. If you are reading this, avoid.
Love in the Villa (2022)
Such a solidly 5 stars (on 10) rated film
I have never seen a film such solidly 5 stars rated. Unmistakably 5 stars (on 10).
The film tries to work its charms on you following the footsteps of Emily in Paris. It's designed to be a lazy stroll across Verona along with two likeable characters and two others playing gooseberries. And in that sense it is not a horrible film. The plot is perfectly cliched and predictable, but not completely unenjoyable.
The criticism leveled in the top IMDB reveiew that middle aged characters acting like teenagers is both true and false, while it perfectly captures the entire mood, it also misses the mark in terms of the film capturing the innocence of a love story that is trying to take your mind off the stress of your life.
I didn't like or dislike it, it was breezy, fast paced, and okay film that was redeemed by the shots of the beautiful city.
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag (2020)
Middle of the road...
Ravi Patel does a fine job. Swara Bhaskar would have been great if she was asked not to overact. The problem of the show is a bombed standup set is not just a bombed set, it has to be further embellished with a comedienne falling down and doing three more cringeworthy physical mess on the stage. In the latter half of the third episode, the protagonists play cricket on a beach where there is no cell phone connection. This particular 15 minutes is so much cringe, that you'd like to throw up. These superfluous meaningless embellishments do NOT work. And Swara practically commits to overacting in her every scene in the series.
I do not get why this is 2 stars rated, this deserves more like a solid 5 stars and trust me 5 stars are often worse than 2 stars in terms of wasting your time. Think about it.
Mismatched (2020)
Whole different level of cringe
Everything is said in all seriousness, nobody is making any fun of themselves in the series, this is in another level of insufferable.
Laxmii (2020)
Truly Disgusting
Some films should not have been made, if you ever feel like watching this film, remember that in the same platform you can watch HBO shows like Westworld Veep, Fx shows like Better Things etc. If you exhaust everything that is of any quality and even then want to watch this film, because it would purportedly entertain you, it won't. This is one of the most disgusting film I have watched in recent years and I sincerely regret my decision.
Evil Eye (2020)
Such good actors, nice setup, all wasted
One just needed to appeal to their common sense and change the plot ever so slightly for the movie to be perfectly enjoyable. A potential 8* rated movie with good actors, fantastic atmosphere, nice setup is sitting at 4* because no one had the stomach to tell the truth.
I feel so disappointed at the gross stupidity.
Sachin (2017)
Watched it amidst of Covid-19 on Sachin's 47th birthday
This review is not about Sachin Tendulkar, who I have always put as the answer of my childhood superhero in the secret questions.
My short review is about the film which has two major problems, it leaves out a lot of names and keeps Sachin and his family in the center and let the other people and their memories go, no inset, no mentions, no shots. And that makes the experience pretty one-dimensional. Sachin opening with Sourav, Sachin opening with Sehwag get no mention. And in our nostalgia, these things have a huge place.
The other and possibly bigger problem is, it doesn't use any statistics (except at the end) throughout the film, and that is not fine. Sachin Tendulkar is never about any single great innings he might have played, yes, Sharjah was great, but Sachin was always about consistently performing for the team. And most of his brilliance, and for another example Virat Kohli's brilliance, come from how consistently they scored. Cricket is not like football, you can't show Christiano Ronaldo scoring a magnificent goal. Cricket is a team game that needs scoring runs in every single match, 40 runs in each of the 5 matches are often more important than 2 centuries and 3 ducks in 5 matches. This lack of statistics usage will make the experience incomplete for anyone who haven't seen this man starting from 1990s.
Sachin deserved a better film, shorter clips, more statistics, more people getting due credit, and possibly, a better use of Rahman's awesome music. 8 on 10.
Neal Brennan: 3 Mics (2017)
Reviewing it in 2020 amidst of Covid-19 crisis
Neal Brennan could hide (and probably he does hide to this day) behind the familiar, behind supremely talented Dave Chappelle, to-an-extent-talented Amy Schumer. Some of his directions are lame, some are okay, none of them are exceptional. I have never liked his stand-up either. Amd this one changes it. I was little apprehensive about the gimmicky use of 3 microphones, but in the end, everything falls into place.
What is similar with a Dave Chappelle stand up is the thoughtfulness, the introspection, the meditation. Now to look at three acts separately, at least a few one-liners are more like dad-jokes, the regular stand-up bits are mostly funny but not laugh-out-loud variety except the last bit which is very Amy Schumer-ish and brought nothing new to the table. What stands out is the meditation of the center mic, the non-rant version of everything that can be rant on, and the satire and the irony living a life that is partly felt and mostly numb. But Neal creates the vehicle that gives you a taste of his own life and reflected on it, a taste of your own life, partly felt, mostly numb.
I rated it 10 on 10, although I do not think it will be counted as classic, but somehow this standup resonated with me, reminded me of Tig Notaro, Dave Chappelle among others.
Panchayat (2020)
In One Word: Amazing
There is no way to downplay how good this 8 part series is. I was amazed at The Kota Factory, but this one exceeds all of my expectations and blew my mind.
I started watching the first episode at 1 am today imagining I'd watch an episode or half and sleep, it's 626 am now and I am writing this review after binging the entire season, 2 cups of coffee, a serving of roasted peanuts and a serving of yippee noodles later, I am still at a sheer disbelief how consistently good all of the eight episodes are.
A comedy-drama around a village Phulera minus romance, patriotism-nationalism-zingoism, any major depravity, the writing in this series is a revelation. Acting is nuanced, minus any loud melodrama, at least 4 characters are explored to depth. Beautiful cinematography, nice photography and camera work (especially with abundant panning shots to set the mood - special mention, the pond), somewhat misfitting background score, improvised and natural dialogs, the series ticks all the checkboxes.
Anyone who has reached here, without watching the series, irrespective of your country of origin, the language you speak, please give this series a chance. You'd not be disappointed.
Life is Good by Ashish Shakya (2020)
This is not review-worthy, it's a message to Ashish Shakya
Ashish, if you are reading this, you are wasting your time and others, your jokes are not really jokes, mainly because it's not funny, watch some YouTube and check what other stand ups are doing without your money or following. You need to leave the scene and come back strong.
Aziz Ansari: Right Now (2019)
Unforgettable!
This Aziz's stand up special is to comedy is what Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen is to music - somewhat reminiscent of Nanette (minus all the righteous anger) and used impeccably as a comeback vehicle by Aziz. Carefully chosen words, practiced precision like Seinfeld, deft and somewhat manipulative use of emotions (especially manufacturing the emotions that by "forgiving" Aziz, you are somehow becoming the bigger person), and jarring camera position to keep it intimate, the set is flawlessly designed.
However, beside designs and precisions, there are two factors that can only be earned - a sincere honesty, brutal, incisive, thought-provoking, equivocal-ambiguous honesty that constantly asks you to be present in the set with your full faculties -always conscientious and questioning. And above all, extreme compassion towards all our frailties, misunderstandings, misgivings, missteps. Aziz evokes a dark sense foreboding in reevaluating his own jokes, stating in no uncertain terms that in 50 years, it would be difficult to justify our own behavior (to homeless people among others), or we have got 60 more times to meet our parents. This level of compassion had steered the second season of "Master of None" to a masterpiece, now shepherds this rather ingenuous set to unforgettability - a momentous achievement.
Kota Factory (2019)
Spellbinding
What can I say that would add anything to this series? Ok, may be this, I often cringe at the on screen portrayal of love, I always felt it misses the mark on innocence, passion, shyness and the possible futility of the entire exercise. I didn't cringe watching KF's portrayal, neither did I cheer. Nothing else to add.
Gully Boy (2019)
A film that doesn't take the audience for granted
There are three major flaws with the film. And I am not kidding -
1. The underground rap scene of Mumbai/India is not greatly popular. Beyond niche audience people are unaware of even the two pioneering characters who have inspired the story. This makes the characters less relatable.
2. The music itself is repetitive and isn't rising. There is no obvious way of understanding why one rap is better than the other. The wordings are hugely meaningful, the beats are basic and even the much hyped rap number, "Apna time ayega" is paean to wistful thinking and not to the blood sweat tearful grit of everyday existence.
3. And the last major problem, the graph or narrative of the film is winner-takes-all sports drama. This is so dumbed down version of any reality that it is problematic that directors are still using this trope. Even after all the success in life, there is the next day, the next project, the next failure, winnings and winners are just momentary. Think of the American Idol 17 winner, after 15 minutes of fame and holding the trophy above your head, American Idol 18 auditions are already on.
Now these major flaws out of the way, there are six things which work for the film and how!
1. Cinematography. It is a major win for the film to use the real location, aerial shots and all the lowliness and glory of Mumbai/Dharavi-17. Kudos! However, the major win is the beautiful frames through its entire runtime. The film deserved all awards in this category.
2. Dialogue. Everything in the film sound improvised except a couple of dialogues by Alia Bhatt and Vijay Raj's cribbing about Ranveer eating a lot of food and wasting money for his education. This is significant. It is almost unbelievably great. Vijay Maurya deserves every possible awards in the category.
3. Direction. And Art Direction by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. So when a director gets a script, or in this case co-writes a script, nothing is there to begin with except (in this case) a good story. She has to imagine every single thing to the last detail to make the story come alive in the film. This is an extremely daunting process if there is no benchmark. Zoya Akhtar introduces a sub-genre to Bollywood film and deftly avoid all possible Bollywood genres that the movie could seek to fit in - drama, biography, documentary, experimental, musical, coming-of-the-age. Instead she chooses an yet unexplored for Bollywood sub-genre called "Hood films". The sub-genre is defined by discrimination, crime, broken families, drugs, Rap culture. Societal/moral/financial upliftment is not the ultimate goal of the films in this genre. The goal is always to tell the story of the marginalized. And Zoya veers into this unfamiliar territory (both for her and the audience) and stay true.
4. Editing. Of course, you can't see good editing, you see the final product and have no counterfactual data on how what-is-kept compares to what-is-not-kept. Bad editing is often easily visible. If you come out of theater feeling it could have been 30 minutes shorter, the film is most likely badly edited. The great thing about this film is that it could have been more tightly edited, at least a few scenes could have been shortened, especially some of the scenes where Kalki is in, some of the scenes where Alia is in, some of the scenes where Siddhant is in. I am not talking about cutting the story arcs, just cutting scenes to make the film tighter. But the editor does not do so. Why? You can justify it by saying fleshing out characters, having emotional breathing space and so on. But my guess is the editor wanted the cinematography to shine, why? It was clear to Nitin Baid (editor) that the audience is largely unfamiliar with the music scene and its practitioners, the first touch point with relatability lies with the city and the characters. The editing is slack to accommodate the audiences involvement with the situation rather than the underlying music. I am saying if it is a sports movie about Indian Rugby, and the audience has no clue what the game is, the editor has to create a space so that you can identify with the context where these Rugby players are coming from. Else you need to explain Rugby rules a la Aamir Khan's Dangal.
5. Casting. I mean what a great casting. You see these same set of actors acting in all Hindi films, right? So why would you, as an audience, believe Ranveer is Murad and not Alauddin Khilji, especially if you loved him so much in that role? This is where the casting crew comes in. They have to visualize that the same actor has played very different roles will fit in as a rapper with street-credence. This is NOT same as casting Shahrukh, Salman, Hrithik and other "superstars". Superstars in Hindi films generally reprise the same character in various guises and bring the same charisma/charm to the screen. SRK practically acts the same role in all his films. This is similar to the difference in singing between Vishal Dadlani and Arijit Singh. Vishal in his many songs sings the same range, maintains the same texture and poor Arijit has to revisit his repertoire and bring something different every time. The casting for this film is great. Again, it should win all awards in the category.
6. Acting. OF COURSE. Right? Acting is undeniably great. But, there is a but. Ranveer Singh, who is really effective, is not the best actor in the film. Far ahead is Alia Bhatt, and Siddhant Chaturvedi. Why? Because many of their reactions to the scenes come as unexpected. There is a scene inside a darkened train compartment, present among four other people, where Alia just repeats being called, "tod-fod" (or something like that). And then she stands up to leave with Ranveer. Nothing else happens in that scene. But her expressions come across as puzzling and fresh. This is repeated in at least 2-3 more times in the film, for example Alia crying and pleading to her father to continue her studies. And for Siddhant, he is marvelous. He deserves the best debutante award in all award shows. Finally, how good is Ranveer Singh? There is a small issue with his portrayal. At least a few times he breaks character of being coy, shy, underdog and shows his "hero"/"star" side. For example, his climbing wall to enter Alia's home is extremely cliched hero-like. Ranveer, at the pick of his game, should have insisted in skipping these things. There are at least 2-3 more that doesn't suit the character arc and extremely convenient/lazy story telling.
I have this theory, no good film ever declares in the course of the film, that it is good or its characters are great and to be lauded for being so. Like the first scene of Manikarnika, Rani Laxmi Bai is already a hero, just born as a child and blessed to be as great as Rama, in the next scene she is hunting tiger right in the middle of a jump. Only a rubbish film demands that you, as an audience, accept the character's greatness from the opening scene. This is akin to taking the audience for granted.
"Gully Boy" would not take you for granted through its 2 hour 30 minutes running time even for once. It passes Bechdel test when Alia talks to her mom about the act of lying. It tests your intelligence when you feel torn about a character that uses children as drugs carriers and can't suitably take one position or the other (also about Ranveer stealing cars). It mesmerizes you with cinematography. It introduces a sub-genre to mainstream Bollywood and stays true to it. And finally, it tells a human story full of different shades of gray and stays true to the struggle of the daily existence.
I give this film a 9 out of 10. The 1 mark is deducted is for a few unwarranted herogiri that was introduced in Ranveer's character. Exchange on note-taking in the class, entering Alia's home through toilet window, etc which were lazy.
PS: The best scene in the film is where Kalki asks if Ranveer and Siddhant have a contract with some label. Awesome!
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special (2017)
People are correct about the rating
I do not want to pile on any further, people have already said everything.
I just wish to point out one simple thing, please stop promoting the nonsense idea of drinking on stage as some kind of new-age-cool. Sometimes jokes don't land, sometimes a set is not funny and that is totally fine BUT a visibly drunk woman (or man) slurring on stage in the middle of an hour long special is so much worse than that.
I wish Ms. Schumer well. She used to be legit funny and it's not too difficult to imagine that with a bevy of writers to assist her, she'd make a fine comeback.